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​Welcome to the ALB Mumbai In-House Legal Summit 2024

    DATE             03 April 2024, Wednesday

    TIME               09:15 am Registration
                                 10:00 am to 04:00 pm, Indian Standard Time (GMT +5:30)

      VENUE          IITC Grand Central, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Mumbai, India                                                                                                                                                         

      [ FACE TO FACE /LIVE EVENT] 

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For further information on summit speakers, please contact Amruta Manjrekar at amruta.kishormanjrekar@thomsonreuters.com to register for the event.

SUMMIT GUEST-OF-HONOURS

Hon'ble Justice B. N. Srikrishna, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India

Hon'ble Justice B.N. Srikrishna has been a judge at the Supreme Court of India from 2002 to 2006. He was appointed as one-man Commission to inquire into the riots and incidents in Mumbai during December 1992 to January 1993. Post-retirement, Justice Srikrishna has headed several high-profile commissions such as the Sixth Pay Commission, the Committee for Consultations on the Situation in Andhra Pradesh (CCSAP), Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), the expert committee on arbitration in India, and committee to draft a data protection framework in India. Justice Srikrishna is currently the vice-president and a trustee at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and a trustee at the India International Centre. In the past, he has been an independent director of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. and director of NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd and the National Securities Depository Ltd.

He started his career as an advocate in Bombay High Court in 1962 and specialized in the field of labour and industrial law. He served as a judge of the Bombay High Court from 1990 till 2001, when he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala. He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2002, where he served until his retirement in 2006.

Justice Srikrishna has been a member of several professional associations. He was a life member of the Labour Law Practitioners, Mumbai and The National Institute of Personnel Management, Kolkatta. He was also a member of the Western Region Committee of the Employers’ Federation of India, Industrial Relations Research Association, U.S.A and the International Bar Association, London.

 

Hemant Kumar, Group Legal Advisor, Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Hemant Kumar, an LLB Gold Medalist, is Group Legal Advisor of Larsen & Toubro Ltd.  A seasoned legal professional with over 35 years of experience, he comes from a family of lawyers, corporate counsels and judges.

Previously held senior positions at SBI, SAIL, JSW Steel, Reliance ADAG and Essar Group.  Was empaneled as a faculty with distinguished MBA & Engineering colleges. He was also awarded for “Chambers GC Influencers Award: India” by Chambers and Partners, London, Corporate Legal Department of L&T honored with “Best Legal Department of India” by RSG London and “Honorary Professorship” from Amity University.

 

FORUM CHAIRPERSON

 

SPEAKERS & PANELISTS

Aamod Gupte, Group General Counsel, Balaji Telefilms Ltd.

Aamod Gupte is a senior legal counsel, with a vast and rich professional experience of over 33 years, predominantly in Media, Entertainment, Digital, Broadcasting, Motion Pictures, OTT, Technology Law, Telecom, Data Privacy, Anti-Piracy, Government Relations and Public Policy.

He is currently the Group General Counsel at Balaji Telefilms Ltd., a leading media organization which produces, co-produces, acquires and monetizes leading television content and cinematograph films. It also owns and operates the popular OTT service “ALTT” which offers premium audio-visual content. He combines his deep interest in law with his passion for technology and business to offer practical legal solutions to the ever changing techno-business landscape.

He is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and graduated in law from the Government Law College, University of Bombay. He combined his love for law with his interest in management studies by completing specialized course in management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS),  University of Bombay. Aamod also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Media Laws from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) as well as certifications in GDPR, Data Privacy and Copyright and Cyber Laws certifications from WIPO, Switzerland.

In his professional career span, Aamod has been deeply involved in several business verticals from the start up stages including OTT, Satellite Television Broadcasting and Distribution, Cinematograph Films, Live Events, FM Radio, Music, Retail, Internet, Mobile and Digital businesses, etc., across legal, regulatory, public policy and business affairs. He has had various professional associations in leadership positions with leading media conglomerates including Zee Entertainment, Eros International, UTV (now Disney), Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (Times Group), Radio Mirchi, Times Television Network, Indiatimes, Viacom18 Group etc.

Aamod was awarded ‘INTERNATIONAL COUNSEL OF THE YEAR’ in 2009 in Hollywood, USA and recognized as amongst best Media and Entertainment lawyers in the world by The Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel, USA, in association with Price Waterhouse (PWC) of USA, Korn /Ferry and Variety (Hollywood) magazine.

Amber Gupta, Head Corporate Legal, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd.

Mr. Amber Gupta is currently working as Head Corporate Legal, Company Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. is overseeing all regulatory and corporate compliance matters of ABCL including regulatory reporting and compliance adherence and assurance and policy implementation. Mr. Amber is also the nodal contact person for all regulatory and compliance matters under the applicable laws including SEBI Regulations and RBI NBFCs - CIC Master Directions and RBI Regulations. He is also driving the centre of excellence for Legal and Secretarial function at Aditya Birla Capital and also part of Centre of Excellence – Litigation and Arbitration constituted at the Aditya Birla Group level.

He has 24 years of work experience in the field of legal, compliance, regulatory and company secretarial functions encompassing Corporate & Securities Laws, Capital Markets & Broking Laws, Insurance Laws, Banking & NBFC Regulations, IPR Laws & IT Laws, Dispute Resolution, Contract Management, Corporate Compliances, Board and Governance matters, policy making and regulatory matters with specialization in financial services sector.

Mr. Amber has been associated with Aditya Birla Capital since June 2008 starting with Aditya Birla Money as Head- Legal, Compliance and Secretarial and played significant role in takeover and integration of broking business and setting up of legal and compliances process and policies for Securities and Wealth Management business, Mutual Fund & Insurance distribution and online money management. Mr. Amber was part of Compliance Committee of Association Of National Exchanges Members Of India (ANMI) and contributed on several policy and regulatory matters.

Ameet Naik, Founding & Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Co.

Regarded as a 'Litigator Par Excellence' and carries several important reported judgments and landmark decisions to his credit. Ameet has been at the forefront of several high-stake litigations. With over two decades of experience in the fields of dispute resolution, international arbitration, and general corporate advisory, Ameet is a lawyer with a rare combination of skill sets and brings varied experience that allows him to provide bespoke advice to clients, enabling them to achieve their business and commercial objectives within the contours of law.

“Ameet Naik is widely acknowledged by market sources to be a standout practitioner in the media and entertainment space, where he frequently acts on high-profile pieces of media-related litigation at High Court level. 

Deepa Sood, Vice President Legal & Company Secretary, Metro Brands Limited

As an in-house attorney, Deepa leveraging over two decades of experience across the entire spectrum of legal practice to help businesses grow and win in complex environments by guiding them to operate within the parameters of law and regulation and conduct themselves with ethics and integrity. She has dual qualification: Lawyer & Company Secretary. Her experience base is rich and well-rounded spanning the entire range of legal services: large Indian corporate law firms, India General Counsel since 2008 heading legal and compliance for a formidable Indian Corporates. Presently, Deepa is working as Vice President Legal, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer for Metro Brands Limited, a leading footwear retail company since September 2021.

 

Dhruv Anand, Partner, Anand and Anand

Dhruv’s work covers a wide array of cases from Luxury brands, FMCG to Pharma and Life Sciences including copyright enforcement.

With a career spanning over 14 years, he has been involved in significant cases in media and entertainment space including the recent cases around personality rights of Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor; Landmark copyright cases such as the DU photocopy case, enforcing the moral rights of a famous sculptor, represented copyright societies and more lately involved in a dispute concerning singers right to receive royalty.  

Dhruv has been instrumental in enforcing and upholding the patent rights of many pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, Merck, Pharmacyclics, Eisai, which cases have involved a wide spectrum of complex patent law principles. Called to the Bar in 2006, Dhruv primarily practices before the Delhi High Court. He studied law from Amity Law School and went on to pursue an LLM in Intellectual Property Law from the George Washington University in 2014.

Dr. Ajai Garg, Director, Digital Tech and Law Group, Anand and Anand

An Electrical Engineer with Doctoral Degree from IIT Kanpur, Dr. AK Garg is a seasoned technocrat with 25 plus years of experience and a proven track record for professional excellence. Known for his target-driven approach and pushing the boundaries of innovation, Dr. Garg devised and led from the front myriad mission-critical digital transformation initiatives at MeitY apart from being a key contributor to various technology oriented and Trade & Policy related strategic forums of GOI which include AI, Data, Cyber Security Technology Regulations and Emerging Tech.

Currently Dr. Garg is heading the Digital Tech and Law Group at Anand and Anand where the firm is the process of evolving expertise on Legal and Advisory aspects on Emerging Tech including AI considering the fact that it will be central to future Innovation and Economic Growth. He had strategically negotiated and managed various agreements, trade issues and MoUs with 50+ countries amid lean resources and outcome complexities. Till recently, he was the ‘Lead Negotiator’ for Digital Trade Chapter in various FTAs including that for RCEP, UAE, UK, IPEF and Canada. Dr. Garg was consistently engaged as Country Ambassador and a key representative in large international multilateral forums such as G20, WTO, BRICS RCEP and UNCITRAL and Shanghai Cooperation-strengthening India’s position vis-a-vis key ICT challenges. 

A keen planner, strategist and implementer, Dr. Garg is passionate about promoting startup-entrepreneurial ecosystem especially in the realm of emerging technologies in the country.

Dr. Vivek Mittal, Global General Counsel, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited

Dr. Vivek Mittal is currently the Global General Counsel at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (DRL), an NYSE, NSE, and BSE listed multi-locational global generic pharmaceutical giant. At DRL, he leads a team of about 85 lawyers and professionals covering a gamut of activities like domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, in-licensing, out-licensing,  commercial agreements, domestic and complex cross-border civil and criminal litigation, arbitration, ethical and statutory compliances, data privacy, and data protection.

In addition to his existing role Global General Counsel, Dr. Mittal is also designated as Date Privacy Officer of DRL, he also oversees IPR, employment laws, regulatory issues, and corporate commercial advisory among others. Dr. Mittal has a very diversified and successful multi-industry career spanning over 24 years with the latest stint being at Danaher Corporation, where he was Regional Counsel - METAI for Diagnostics Platform, Head of Legal at Lupin Limited and has been instrumental in critical roles at Reliance, Radico Khaitan, Indiabulls, Caparo India and Mount Shivalik.

Dr. Mittal has been recognized and honored with multiple accolades from prestigious institutes like Legal Era, BW Legal World, INBA, and Legal 500. He is a regular speaker at such events and places.On the academic background - he is a Ph.D. in commerce, a member of ICSI, a post graduate in commerce, and a graduate in law.

Himanshu Vidhani, Partner (Disputes and Insolvency Practice), Chandhiok & Mahajan

Himanshu Vidhani is a Partner in the Disputes and Insolvency practice group at Chandhiok & Mahajan. His primary focus lies in adeptly representing clients embroiled in intricate disputes concerning insolvency and restructuring, contractual claims, shareholder and investor conflicts, and international commercial arbitration throughout the broader Asia-Pacific region.

With a wealth of experience spanning over a decade, Himanshu has successfully represented clients across diverse industries, including but not limited to technology, oil and gas, manufacturing, telecommunications, construction, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, media, entertainment, and banking sectors. His expertise includes devising and executing dispute resolution strategies by assessing risk factors that impact business decisions.

Himanshu's proficiency extends to corporate restructuring endeavors, including the formulation and execution of schemes involving mergers, arrangements, and reduction of share capital. He has advised and represented numerous clients before various tribunals and regulatory bodies for various legal, regulatory, and commercial matters.

Jivesh Chandrayan, Partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

Jivesh has 20 years of experience in advising on a wide array of corporate & commercial legal issues. Jivesh has helped clients navigate through various stages of their business cycle, ranging from incorporation to operation stability, corporate governance and restructuring (mergers and acquisitions).

Jivesh has represented clients across diverse industry sectors like IT/ITeS, Technology, Geo-spatial, Telecom, Fintech, Defence & Aerospace, Manufacturing, Engineering, Electronics, Tourism, Medical & Healthcare, Mining, Apparels/Textile, Facility Services, Renewable Energy, Energy Asset Management and Estate Planning. The clients he has advised range from large multinational corporations including Fortune500 companies to early-stage startups. He has also advised leading Public Sector Enterprises, including ‘Maharatna’ and ‘Navratna’ companies.

Jivesh has been recognized among India’s foremost practitioners by Legal500 in the employment space (2022, 2023, 2024), TMT (2023, 2024) and Corporate (2023). Asian Legal Business (2023) has also recommended Jivesh in their most recent (2023) rankings for the TMT practice area. As a thought leader, Jivesh has had articles published in various leading journals and websites.

Madhu Gadodia, Deputy Managing Partner, Naik Naik & Co.

Madhu enjoys 21 years of experience. She heads the media and technology practice at the firm. Her clients rely on her to decisively act in their best interest to align with their larger business objectives.

Madhu has worked on very prominent media, technology, gaming, sports and data protection advisory and contentious matters. Madhu draws on her rich body of prior experience, where she has represented both sides, on a negotiation table. Her core expertise is Media and Entertainment, Intellectual Property Rights and Banking and Finance. For the IPR practice, she has represented some of the largest production houses, film studios (including Hollywood studios), television channels/ broadcasters, digital media companies and content aggregators leading talent in the media industry including Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Kriti Sanon, Tiger Shroff, Varun Dhawan and John Abraham.

She has represented the Indian Broadcasting Federation and a host of associations of television and film producers including IFTPC and IMPAA and Producers’ Guild. She has been instrumental in structuring complicated financing-cum-distribution deals, production and co-production deals for Bollywood production houses and Hollywood studios.

Meenal Maheshwari, Group General Counsel, Angle One

Meenal is currently the Group Legal Director for LemmaTree, Temasek which is the tech venture building arm of Temasek. She started her law practice at leading law firm Khaitan & Co, Mumbai. Through her career, she has also been an arguing counsel at the Bombay High Court and has spent the last 8+ years as an in-house counsel and is committed to legal strategy.

Meenal has been a merit Holder (list of top 10 students), for 4 years out of 5, amongst the successful candidates of 22 law schools housed in Pune University. She is a certified global privacy & data protection professional who has been awarded the prestigious Chevening fellowship n Cyber-Security by the UK government. She has been recognized as the top 50 GCs by Forbes and has also been featured as the top woman Chief Legal Officers by Women Entrepreneur.

A marathoner and a yoga practitioner, passionate about women empowerment, she is also a strong force spreading awareness for combating climate change issues. In addition, she enjoys traveling and relishes time with her seven-year-old.

Nistha Soonee, Assistant General Counsel, Slice

Nistha is currently the Assistant General Counsel for ‘slice’ one of India's most cutting edge fintech unicorns. Her core expertise is cross border mergers and acquisitions, private equity and VC investments and exits, strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, general corporate advisory and foreign inbound investments. Prior to joining slice, Nistha has practiced for over a decade at leading law firms namely AZB & Partners, Shardul Amarchand and Trilegal where she has represented marquee private equity investors, promoters and multinational conglomerates. Her current role at slice entails strategic deal advisory transcending the realms of pure-play legal role, corporate governance, stakeholder management.

Sandeep Chowdhury, Group General Counsel, Suzlon Group

Sandeep is the Group General Counsel in HCC. He looks after large scale arbitrations, litigations, ADR, and the corporate and regulatory part. In last couple of years, his team have done a complete restructuring, came up with Rights Issue and have had success in big ticket litigation and arbitration matters. He has also done 3 big ticket M&As (both in Indi and abroad) – each to the tune of $ 3 billion or more, worked on FCPA related issues and labour matters, Handled large PIL in Australia and USA and big regulatory litigation in London against TFL.

Somya Agarwal, VP & General Counsel, Fractal Analytics

Somya is an award-winning General Counsel, boasting an impressive career spanning over two decades. Her expertise lies in the intricacies of structuring and negotiating private equity fund raise transactions, acquisitions, mergers, and integrations, coupled with a profound understanding of restructuring, global compliance management, IP, and data privacy matters. Additionally, she is recognized for her pivotal role in formulating Responsible AI policies and steering board and governance matters.

Currently serving as the Group General Counsel & Company Secretary for Fractal Analytics, Somya has achieved remarkable milestones. Under her leadership, the company secured a $200 million investment from Apax Partners and a $360 million investment from TPG Capital, elevating it to Unicorn status. Her strategic prowess is evident in orchestrating key acquisitions, including Samya.ai, Zerogons (Streamflux), and Neal Analytics. Somya has also spearheaded strategic investments in Senseforth.ai and Analytics Vidhya, alongside managing external equity financings and spinouts of Qure.ai and Theremin.ai. Instrumental in designing and implementing Responsible AI and IP & Data Privacy frameworks, she has significantly contributed to value creation and enhancement for the organization. Notably, Somya automated the Contracts and Compliance management system across 18+ jurisdictions.

Throughout her career, Somya has navigated diverse roles, from the TATA-Pepsi Joint Venture startup to multinational advertising giant Publicis, and the Taj Group of Hotels (Ginger Brand). She also played a key role in the growth and strategies of SAIC (US Multinational), showcasing her ability to drive expansion, enhance stakeholder value, and establish market leadership. Somya has rich multicultural experience includes working across the US, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Asia, China, and Canada.

A Gold Medallist and All India rank holder in B.Com, LLB, and CS exams, Somya's credentials reflect her academic excellence. Beyond her legal acumen, she is an avid meditator and a certified heartfulness meditation trainer. With a passion for writing, she contributes as a columnist in newspapers, magazines, and the digital space, further showcasing her multifaceted talents.

Sudipta Ghosh General Counsel at Apraava Energy Private Limited (formerly CLP India)

Sudipta is responsible for advising Apraava on various legal aspects of setting up conventional and renewable projects, more specifically Wind and Solar Projects in India.

Prior joining Apraava Energy, Sudipta has worked with two prestigious laws firms in India – Trilegal and Amarchand Mangaldas and has handled various domestic and international financing for infrastructure projects including the financing for Power Projects and Airports. Her experience also includes advising, drafting and negotiating project documents, offtake agreements and execution of both conventional and non-conventional power projects in India and keen interest in project financing.

Suresh Kumar Bhutani, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary,  Le Travenues Technology Limited (“ixigo”)

Suresh is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and the Chartered Governance Institute, United Kingdom. He is a law graduate from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, holding a Bachelor's Honors Degree in Commerce from Delhi University, a master’s degree in management from IGNOU, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. With over eighteen years of experience in legal, compliance, corporate secretarial, investor relations, and related matters within IT and Aviation Companies, Suresh has expertise in M&A, corporate restructuring, listing compliances, contract drafting/reviewing, and management. He has contributed to IPO/FPO projects for GAIL (India) Limited, R Systems International Limited, and InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo Airlines).

Currently, he holds the position of Group General Counsel, Company Secretary, and Compliance Officer at ixigo. 

Vibhore Chaturvedi, Vice President – Legal, NIIF Infrastructure Finance Limited

Vibhore Chaturvedi graduated in law from Government Law College, Mumbai, in 2009 and got enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. Before joining NIIF Infrastructure Finance Limited [an infrastructure debt fund (IDF)] as the Vice-President (Legal), he acted as the Group Head (Banking, Project Finance and Infrastructure) at Fox Mandal (Mumbai Office). He has more than a decade of experience in advising financial institutions, renewable energy and infrastructure developers, government bodies, and international banks throughout the Asia-Pacific region.